


the smile that makes me feel invincible like a child

by alittlestitious



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 18:04:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13416669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlestitious/pseuds/alittlestitious
Summary: Tobin just wants to get away from her crazy roommates that can't keep their hands off each other and read her book in peace. (Even if the book is Harry Potter and she's read it millions of times). So she heads to the park, it wasn't really as quiet as she hoped.





	the smile that makes me feel invincible like a child

**Author's Note:**

> As you all know today was a doozy. Hope you enjoy!

Tobin looks around the shaded park trying to find either a bench or a tree to park her butt in for the next two or three hours while she let Emily and Kelley get... _reacquainted (gags)_ after having to spend the season apart. Not there was anything wrong with two women in a relationship. It’s more of a those two in a relationship that got Tobin feeling all gaggy.

 

She finds a spot a little ways from the bustling playground. It was far enough that the shrieking and yelling of the kids were muffled, lending her ear a good background noise but not enough to distract her (she hates silence, one of the reasons she likes to read at the park, surrounded by nature but also the youthfulness of it all).

 

She leans against the trunk of the tree, happy that her sunglasses covered any wandering gaze. She sits still for a moment, letting the wind swirl the ends of her hair, letting the stillness of the leaves and trees center her before tearing into a new chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (and yes Kelley it is called the Philosopher's Stone and no, Kelley that doesn’t mean the stone is going to talk philosophy with you).

 

Just like the countless of times she does this read through, it doesn’t take her that long to become totally immersed in the Wizarding World as she read the story through Harry’s eyes.

 

A little too immersed as when she looks up, the sky was no longer just blue but instead had streaks of yellow, pink, and red, all mingling into one. She cranes her neck to see that the crowd of children by the playground had considerably thinned, less than a classroom’s worth of kids remain and the shadows have moved indicating that it’s closer to sunset.

 

When she straightens her look again towards her backpack, brown and blue eyes were staring back at her had her startling into a sitting position. The Australian Shepherd dog pants at her face, waiting for her to make a move.

 

Tobin looks around inconspicuously, trying to find the owner of the panting dog. “You looking for your mom, boy?” she asks as she reaches forward and feels for a collar underneath the fur. When she finds one, she pulls it back to see the name. “Is your name Pantherlily?”

 

The Aussie barks once.

 

“Where’s your mom?” Tobin asks again as if expecting the dog to respond to her. Tobin shakes her head to herself, muttering, “He’s a dog, Tobin.”

 

The Aussie’s head turns as if he was confused as well. Their eyes lock for a moment, Tobin gazing at his eyes in amazement. She’s never really seen a dog with heterochromia before. As if tired of just staring, the Aussie moves forward and nudges the hand that was holding the book.

 

Tobin looks around, almost shyly as she tries to see if anybody will see her. “You want me to read to you?”

 

Pantherlily barks once before laying in a prone position in front of Tobin, paws underneath his head as if hewas settling in for a good story that had Tobin chuckling.

 

Tobin runs a finger through the closed book until she feels her page marker and opens it to the last page she leaves off. She starts reading out loud to the Aussie who was keen to listen “ _...Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky was a vast castle with many turrets and towers…”_

 

Tobin lays down next to the dog and holds the book aloft, knowing that she would get tired sooner rather than later. She reads to Pantherlily, complete with voices for each and every character, bellowing a deep laugh when the dog tilts his head in either confusion or curiosity. She occasionally stops and has a small discussion with the dog, asking questions as if he would answer.

  
She stops again right when Harry was about to put on the Sorting Hat and asks Pantherlily. “Where do you think he’s going to get sorted, PL? I feel like he should be in Hufflepuff because it’s super chill, but of course, he’s the protagonist so he gets the one with the lion.”

 

“Aw spoilers!”

 

“Yeah! You shouldn’t have told us where Harry goes!”

 

“Pantherlily?” Tobin asks, her voice was cautious, confused and elated that a dog is possibly talking to her (and it has two voices? That’s unprecedented! Although the common sense in her brain is screaming, _What the hell, Tobin?)_

 

The childlike giggles make Tobin drops the book right at her face and she scrambles to get up. She looks beside Pantherlily to see two kids, a boy and a girl. Both with jet black hair and muddy green eyes that can be grey depending on the lighting and their clothing.

 

“Is Pantherlily your dog?” Tobin asks the two kids. “What are your names?”

 

“Yeah!” Cody answers. “He’s two! And he’s the best dog! My name is Cody and this is my sister Avery!”

 

“Where are your parents?” Tobin asks as she looks around, trying to spot anyone looking like their looking for two kids and a dog.

 

Tobin can see the light in their eyes visibly dim and Avery looks down, pulling at the grass. Tobin panics as it hits her that she said something wrong.

 

“They’re in heaven,” Cody mumbles pointing up at the sky as he looks down at his lap.

 

“Oh,” Tobin squeaks, unsure what to say.

 

“But that’s okay because they’re not in pain, right?” Avery says as she looks at Tobin for assurance.

 

Tobin’s eyes widen as she mechanically nods her head, knowing that if she opens her mouth, she might say the wrong thing. She looks down at her lap, realizing she finds her out. She opens the book with such force that the two kids give her a weird look. “You guys want to continue with the story?”

 

“Yeah!” Cody says as he lays his head on their dog. His sister follows suit, settling in for a good story.

 

The sun was closer to setting already, but even though they were far from the playground, the light from the street lamps can still reach them. With the temperature at a good point, Tobin didn’t feel too bad that she didn’t have a blanket the kids can use to snuggle with.

 

She was getting into the thick of the chapter with Quidditch in it, explaining to the kids how it works with quaffles, bludgers, and the golden snitch. The kids, catching onto her excitement, were asking her questions about the game until they got so riled up that they were playing a mock game, pretending to throw imaginary quaffles at each other while they rode their imaginary broomsticks.

 

Their giggles and stomps fill the air as they fly (run) at the imaginary pitch, Pantherlily barking up the storm as he plays the beater, his shepherd instincts kicking in as he tries to herd the two kids.

 

Tobin wasn’t sure if she was hearing it right at first, she was laughing too hard to notice anything but the happiness of acting like a kid again. But when Pantherlily stops and his ears perk, Tobin knows he hears the voice as well. The two kids stop running around when they see Tobin and Pantherlily were no longer running up and down the pitch with them.  

 

“Pantherlily!”

 

Pantherlily barks once before the dog bounds off into the little path, presumably to whoever was calling them.

 

Tobin turns to the two kids, the expressions of fear on their faces tugs at her heart and she steps in front of them, getting ready to protect them if necessary. As if sensing her protection, the two kids step closer to Tobin.

 

When Pantherlily comes bounding back, ahead of the person he was leading. Tobin was ready to do all that is necessary to protect the two kids, but when the person came into view, she feels an unfamiliar something in her chest. Her brain short circuits as she stares at the woman that was now shoving her to the side to get to the two kids behind her.

 

“Oh thank god you guys are fine,” The woman says as she gathers them into a hug. She side-eyes Tobin as she checks the two kids over. “You guys aren’t hurt right?”

 

“Are we in trouble?” Cody mumbles, his chin to his chest as he stares at the woman, his eyes look bigger as they were framed by his long eyelashes. Tobin had to stifle a giggle, he knows what the little guy was doing.

 

The woman sighs as she stands up and ruffles their heads. “No,” she says fondly before turning to Tobin. She smiles brightly at Tobin. “Hi.”

 

“Uh, H-h-i,” Tobin stutters as she puts her hands deep in her pocket, giving the woman a smile. She grips inside the lining of her pocket to try and center herself. She can already feel herself getting lost in her eyes and smile.

 

“Thank you for watching them,” she says, sincerely.

 

Tobin smiles at the two kids who give her a beaming smile back. “It was no problem,” Tobin says, waving off her gratitude. “We were just playing Quidditch.”

 

“Quidditch?” She asks, the word was familiar to her, but she couldn’t recall the meaning.

 

“Aunt Christen, it’s so cool!” Cody says as he starts explaining the rules to her, including using himself, his sister, Pantherlily, and Tobin as visual aids. “We should play again!”

 

“Yeah!” The little girl says tugging at Christen’s hand. “Aunt Chrissy let’s play! It’s fun!”

 

“I don’t know-”

 

“It’ll be even!” Cody interrupts. He turns to Christen, his eyes and hands pleading. “C’mon! Please Aunt Christen?”

 

Christen sighs as she rubs her palm over her face, frustrated at her inability to say no to these kids. “Okay fine. So how are we going to play?”

 

“Well we don’t have any real Quidditch stuff so we pretend that we’re throwing the quaffle and Pantherlily is going to be our golden snitch.”

 

“Our Aussie snitch,” Avery corrects. Avery runs to Tobin’s side, tugging her arm up. “Tobin and I are in the same team!”

 

“That’s not fair!” Cody says. “I want Tobin on my team!”

 

“You’re already bigger!” Avery stomps her feet and Tobin can see the signs of a tantrum coming out.

 

“Hey what about adults v kids?” Tobin asks, trying to diffuse the situation.

 

“Yeah if you win we can get dinner at that sushi place you like,” Christen adds, catching on quickly.

 

Avery and Cody’s heads turn to each in unison (which Tobin admits is a little creepy), a look of agreement passing between them.

 

“Deal!”

 

“Game on,” Cody says as she stands in front of her Aunt and their new found friend.

 

They allowed the kids the invisible quaffle first, letting them dictate the game, until the two kids started playing dirty much to Tobin’s amusement. They were ganging up on whoever had the invisible quaffle and manage to turn the game around in their favor. Cody says that the game was getting boring after they scored on the two women and they decided to trade teams. Avery with Tobin and Cody with Christen.

 

Tobin can see Christen’s competitive side coming out as they run side-by-side bumping against each other to knock each other off their imaginary brooms. She wouldn’t let Tobin run a few steps until she was hip checking her.

 

At one point, Tobin and Avery get so frustrated that Avery holds Christen off while Tobin tackles her (at Avery’s instructions), which sucks for Tobin as the awkward position that they ended up tumbling to had her brain feeling fuzzy and her heart thumping out of control at the heat of her body against her.

 

“What are you guys doing?” Avery asks as she looks down at them. They had been laying on the ground a little too long.

 

“N-n-nothing!” Tobin says, flustered as she helps Christen up.

 

Christen stares at her redden face and giggles before patting her butt, making Tobin jump in the air and gaze after her, mouth opened in shock.

 

When their Aussie snitch was released. They let the two kids run after the dogs. Christen stands next to Tobin, watching them run after Pantherlily, a bright smile on her face that reached her eyes.

 

“I haven’t seen them this happy since we said goodbye to their parents,” Christen murmurs, panting from the exertion, her eyes never leaving the two children and the dog. As if the words she uttered just registered in her brain, she turns to Tobin, “Their parents are-”

 

“Dead,” Tobin finishes for her. “Cody told me.”

 

Christen redirects her gaze back at the kids again. “Yeah, it’s been a hard couple of months for us.”

 

Tobin feels her heart skip a beat. She didn’t realize how raw the wounds still are.

 

“You guys aren’t even chasing Lily!” Avery huffs as she stops and glares at the two women.

 

Tobin takes a step forward but Christen’s warm hand on her arm stops her. She ignores the flutters of her stomach at the touch, but find that she couldn’t and she ends up gaping at her.

 

Christen leans over, her breath tickling the side of her neck and face, “Watch this.” She whistles once and yells for Pantherlily, who obediently trots to Christen.

 

“I win!” Christen declares as she grabs Pantherlily by her collar.

 

“That’s not fair!” Avery says. “You cheated, Auntie Chrissy!”

 

“Yeah that means you’re disqualified!” Cody says turning to Tobin. “Right? That’s what happens when you cheat in Quidditch?”

 

“That’s what happens when you cheat in life,” Tobin counters.

 

“It’s not cheating if you know how to get to that snitch,” Christen argues.

 

Tobin raises an eyebrow at her. “Seriously, Christen, you want to teach two impressionable children shortcuts?”

 

“Yeah, alright, that’s cheating,” Christen concedes. “You guys win.”

 

“Aves that means you won!” Cody says as he lifts his younger sister in the air, walking around with her. “Good job!”

 

“Sushi!” Avery cheers as she lets herself be carried around.

 

Christen laughs at their antics, her heart missing the usual lead weight that it usually holds. She looks up at Tobin, her eyes shining bright with tears as she sniffles, her voice coming out in a half sob. “Thank you, Tobin.”

 

Tobin smiles, shrugging. “I just played with them, Christen.

 

“Yeah, but you made them act like kids again,” Christen says. 

 

After Cody has made one lap around the small grassy area, he puts Avery down in front of Christen and Tobin. He turns to Tobin, bouncing on his toes as he makes his eyes bigger. “You’re coming with us, right?”

 

Tobin turns to Christen, making the two kids redirect their pleading gazes at her as well. “Christen?”

 

Christen nods. “The least I can do.”

 

“Alright let me just grab my stuff,” Tobin says as she grabs her orange backpack. She stuffs her sunglasses and book in it before swinging it on her back. She picks up her longboard that was leaning against the tree, tucking it underneath her arm.

 

“Did you ride that here?” Cody asks, his voice held pure awe as he touches the longboard reverently.

 

“Yeah,” Tobin says as he shows Cody the board. “I made it myself.”

 

Cody looks up at Tobin as if he’s just seen something magnificent and awe-inspiring. “You are so cool!”

 

Tobin can feel her shoulder creep up towards her ears as she gives Cody a smile. “I’ll teach you how to ride it one day.”

 

“Awesome!” Cody says. He tentatively touches the board. “Can I hold it?”

 

“Go for it,” Tobin says as she hands it over.

 

“I feel cool,” Cody says as he holds the board underneath his arm.

 

“Oh look what you’ve done,” Christen says as they walk towards Christen’s car while Avery and Cody take turns holding Tobin’s longboard.

 

Tobin ends up squishing herself in the back with Avery (in a booster seat) and Cody while Pantherlily sits up front with Christen as the back would’ve been too small with the two kids and the dog.

 

The small sushi restaurant sits right at the corner, with the beach facing one side and a park facing the other. They find a seating outside near the beach side so that they can watch the water and hear the waves. Tobin allows the other three to choose whatever, opting instead to eat the kids’ leftovers rather than buying another roll of sushi.

 

The kids devoured their sushi in less than ten minutes, getting antsy and fidgety as they watch the adults finish their food. So much so that, Christen allowed them to go across to the water with Pantherlily to burn off whatever excess energy they have.

 

“Pantherlily?” Tobin asks.

 

“What about it?”

 

“Isn’t that a name much more suited for a cat?” Tobin clarifies as she bites her sushi.

 

“I didn’t name him, Cody did,” Christen says. “It’s from a show that he likes.”

 

“Weird name,” Tobin comments.

 

“Yeah because Tobin isn’t a weird name,” Christen teases.

 

“I’ll have you know it’s a family name,” Tobin says, delving into the story of her names’ background to the faithful encounter of another Tobin that didn’t end well for either Tobin.

 

(“Tobin, you just said it was a family name, why didn’t you think another member of your family wouldn’t have the same name?”

 

“Because I thought I was unique!”

 

“So you didn’t call her back?”

 

“She’s my cousin, Christen!”)

 

That seemed to be what broke the ice as they keep moving onto different topics from childhood stories to college stories to stories in between. Christen couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so much that her sides were hurting.

 

Tobin watches her, gazing is more accurately, as her lips pull back into that smile, brightening her green eyes and the dim surroundings. Tobin sighs. _I wanna smack your face with my face because you’re so pretty._

 

Christen’s eyes snap to Tobin as a coy smile replaces the one on her lips and Tobin feels dread settle at the bottom of her spine.

 

Tobin sighs as she hangs her head, berating herself. She looks up and meets Christen’s eyes.  “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

 

“You did,” Christen confirms, giggling at the blush that appears at the tips of her ears. “You’re blushing!”

 

Tobin drops the sushi grabs the tips of her ears, covering them. “Betrayed by my ears.”

 

Christen giggles at her and Tobin swears that she’s never heard something so sweet and melodic.

 

“Sorry,” Tobin apologizes, her face and ears still feel red.. “That was a completely inappropriate.”

 

Christen smiles as she plays with her chopsticks, twirling it in her hands, “Maybe…” She pauses, dragging on the words to torture Tobin. She gives her a teasing smile. “...I wanna smack my face with your face too.”

 

“What does that even mean?”

 

Cody’s presence startles the two women as they were so caught up in each other that they didn’t notice Avery and Cody had returned to the table. Avery dripping wet, wearing Cody’s sweater.

 

“Smacking is bad,” Avery chastises Christen.

 

“You’re right Aves,” Christen says as she stops Avery from sitting down. “Why are you wet?”

 

“I almost got eaten by a wave!” Avery regales. “It was fun but I would not recommend it.”

 

Christen laughs as she strips her cardigan off to dry the munchkin off. “Are you guys ready to go? We still need to drop Tobin off.”

 

“Wait I need to go to the bathroom,” Tobin says as she goes inside, intent on paying the bill for their table. She pays their tab before actually going to the restroom. When she returns to their table, she sees the other three ready to go.

 

“I was supposed to treat you as a thank you,” Christen tells her when she reaches them, there was a certain fondness and amusement in her eyes.

 

“Next time,” Tobin promises as they walk to the car.

 

“Wow that’s pretty presumptuous of you, Tobin,” Christen says.

 

Tobin double takes at her words, her eyes widening, an apology waiting at the tip of her tongue when she sees Christen’s teasing eyes. “Well, I don’t know I think I have a pretty good feeling about you.”

 

Christen stops on her heel and turns to Tobin. The smile that she gives her had Tobin wanting to grab her chest, but instead Tobin grips her wallet tighter. “I have a pretty good feeling about you too.”

 

“Aunty Chrissy, I’m cold!” Avery shouts as the two kids and the dog looks at them from the car.

 

Christen fumbles to unlock the car, blushing as she hears Tobin laughing beside her. Tobin helps Avery in the car before putting Pantherlily in the front seat.

 

Christen puts on the soundtrack of Moana as they drive Tobin to her house. She was surprised that Tobin was able to keep up with them, even singing along to the Samoan parts.

 

“This is me,” Tobin says, pointing at a house with a gray sedan in front. “You can just park right there.”

 

“Here, I’ll walk you up,” Christen says as she kills the engines. She turns to the two in the back. “Behave. I’ll be back soon.”

 

“Scouts honor!” Cody promises.

 

Christen narrows her eyes at her nephew. “You’re not even in the boy scout.” She gives them one last look and follows Tobin to her house.

 

Tobin stands in front of the door, mumbling to herself, eyes closed.

 

Christen raises her eyebrows at her. “What are you doing?”

 

“Praying I don’t see a naked ass,” Tobin says. She does the sign of the cross before muttering, “Amen.”

 

“Amen,” Christen echoes, making Tobin’s eyes snap back to her. “What? I don’t wanna see your roommate’s naked ass either.”

 

“Yeah you’re right,” Tobin says as she inserts the key and pushes it open. She breathes a sigh of relief when the first thing she sees is the kitchen and not Emily or Kelley. “Oh, come on!” Tobin screams as Emily and Kelley streak in front of them, blankets around them.

 

“Sorry!” They yell simultaneously as they run into Kelley’s bedroom, the door shutting behind their naked asses.

 

There was an awkward pause and Christen can feel Tobin’s mortification as they stand in the entryway. The door to Kelley’s room squeaks open, Sonnett popping her head out. She gives Tobin a thumbs up.

 

Emily gives Christen a once-over, nodding approvingly. “Nice Tobin.”

 

“Go away, Sonnett!” Tobin says as she takes her flip-flop off and throws it at the door. The flip-flop hits the door just as she closes it and they can hear the two devils giggling inside. Tobin turns to Christen, the mortification in her eyes were now there tenfold.

 

“Let’s just pretend that didn’t happen,” Christen offers and Tobin nods gladly taking the out she’s offering. They stare at each other, smilingly stupidly. Christen breaks the silence first. “Thank you again, Tobin. It felt so good to hear them laugh again.”

 

“It was no problem, Christen,” Tobin says, shrugging. “They were fun. Gave me an excuse to geek out over Harry Potter.”

 

Christen smiles, nodding. She rocks on her tiptoes a bit. “I’ll see you around?”

 

Tobin straightens, confused. “What about our date?”

 

“You never asked me out you goof,” Christen says.

 

“Oh,” Tobin says as if that was the first time she’s heard of this. She could’ve sworn that she asked her out. “Uh….”

 

Christen looks at her, patiently, trying to encourage her with her eyes, the smile on her lips never faltering.

 

Tobin stares at her smile and eyes, the greenness and depth of them, making her brain muddled again. So muddled that she blurts out, “You wanna go eat together?”

 

Christen bursts out laughing and Tobin looks embarrassed, the tips of her ears becoming red again. “Okay, I’ll take it,” Christen says as she steps forward and puts a hand on Tobin’s waist. She presses a kiss on her cheek, letting it linger before she pulls back. “I would love that.”

 

“Okay,” Tobin breathes out, her voice coming out more like a squeak.

 

They exchange their numbers and Tobin waits for them to pull out before she goes back inside, a smile stuck to her face and Christen’s number, weighing heavily in her pocket.

 

“So?”

 

Tobin jumps at Emily and Kelley’s voice, thankful that they’re dressed.

 

“So, what?”

 

“You have a date?”

 

“I got a date!” Tobin yells out fist pumping and dancing.

 

“This calls for the good champagne!” Kelley says as she goes to their fridge and grabs the one champagne they’ve been saving for big occasions.

 

They hear the key in the lock and the door opens to reveal their other person living at their house. Becky’s eyes were immediately drawn to the bottle in Kelley’s hand. “What are we celebrating?”

 

“Tobin’s got a date!” Emily says, cheering as Kelley pops open the champagne.

-

-

-

“Did she say yes?” Cody asks as he puts his head between the passenger seat and the driver’s seat to look at his aunt. The kids were  aggressively encouraging Christen to ask their new friend out.

 

Christen nods, her eyes on the road. “She did.”

 

“So does that mean she’s your girlfriend?” Avery asks.

 

“We’ll see,” Christen says.

 

“Yes!” Cody yells in exhilaration, happy for his aunt.

 

Christen smiles. The constant tightness in her chest that first appeared since she was thrusted into a parental role was now gone, even just for a moment. Instead was replaced with a lightness and honest optimism that she hasn’t felt since she was blindsided with life months ago. Only good things can come out of this, she hopes.


End file.
